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Approaches to Literacy Instructions
Reading Belief System Philosophy By: Jennifer Marton University of Phoenix Reading is an instrumental part of everyday life. Most people have learned to read at a very early age and thoughts and feelings about reading vary from person to person. A large part of the way we feel about reading stems from the way reading was presented and taught to us at that early age. As teachers, it is our job to be sure that our students learn and understand the importance of the foundations of reading. Many teachers offer students a wide variety of ways to learn ranging from bottom up strategies to top down strategies to interactive strategies. These strategies all have their place in learning, and teachers tend to each have their own philosophies on each. When I think back on learning to read, I am immediately transported back to my first grade classroom with Mrs. Snow. I vividly remember her excitement when she presented us with our very first book we were going to be able to read on our own. It was titled “Sun Up.” I recall we had what would now be considered a word wall on the back wall of our classroom. On that wall, there was a path of lily pads – each with 2-3 words on each. Each student had a frog with our name on it. When we were confident we could read the words on a particular lily pad, we would let her know and if we read the words, we could move our frog forward. When we reached the end, there was some kind of prize (probably a sticker or something of the sort) and a certificate saying we knew our sight words. It was a big deal to reach the end, and with the ability to read those words, we had the ability to read the book presented to us. I remember feeling so proud at my accomplishments! I would go home and search in other books I had for those same words in the attempt to read even harder books. I loved reading! I have been teaching Kindergarten for almost 8 years now, and all of my 25+ years experience have come in the Early Childhood years. As I reflected on my teaching style while reading the Beliefs of Teaching Reading Interview (p. 36) I realized that my teaching style varies a bit between bottom-up and interactive. The students I teach are very young and some come in with a great knowledge of letters and sounds and how words are put together, where others struggle to even recognize their own name. During my whole group instruction, I typically teach with the bottom-up style. Starting with a letter, then it’s sound, then blending 2 sounds together to start rhyming or building CVC words. For most students, it helps them grow in a predictable fashion. For some students who struggle with this learning process, I tend to lean towards a more interactive approach. We use beginning letter sounds to have an action (p is pop, j is jump, w is whisper, etc). This helps students who need a more kinesthetic way to learn. We also use playdoh, sand, rice, or any other hands on activities to make things more engaging and fun for students who don’t learn visually or aurally. My mom is a very avid reader. She is constantly reading books, sharing books and looking for new books to read. She instilled the love of reading in me when I was very young. To this day, I love reading and I wish I had more time to read “for fun,” but I now find myself always looking for fun children’s books to share with the students in my class. I get very excited when I find one that I know they will enjoy and one that supports a particular learning standard or topic we are learning about. My students feel my excitement, they get excited and they learn a great deal from the book. Their comprehension far exceeds my expectations and they can do many activities with each book. It makes me happy to see them so excited to read the books I love so much. I would imagine my mom felt the same way when she would give me a good book to read. I also remember in 8th grade, I was placed in an accelerated Reading class. I remember my teacher, Miss Kuhn, was known for being tough on her students. I was so nervous to be in her class. Turns out, her love of the books she assigned us made my love of reading classic books grow. The first book we read was Animal Farm. I couldn’t put the book down! When she taught us the parallels to the Soviet government, I was completely hooked on George Orwell’s books. As I grew through high school, I didn’t have the same luck with teachers, and my love of reading lessened. With all the examples given above, I believe my theoretical orientation definitely aligns with my teaching style in my classroom. My students thrive when I am excited about reading (or anything else!). Because of my strong beliefs in the bottom-up philosophy and the interactive philosophy of teaching reading, I believe I am a better teacher for my students. I try to offer as many ways as possible to help them get excited to read. When young students are excited about something, they will thrive in their learning. I want to be the teacher that my students look back on and say, “Ms. Marton helped me read and because of her, I love reading!”